Army personnel at the site of an encounter in Kupwara. File photo

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 21

Two more militants and a soldier were killed on the second day of a gunfight today in the remote Nowgam sector in north Kashmir, where the Army had on Saturday intercepted a group of infiltrating ultras, taking the death toll to seven.A defence spokesman said two more militants and a soldier were killed on the second day of fighting in the Nowgam sector, 120 km from Srinagar. Two militants and two soldiers were killed in the gunfight on the first day of fighting on Saturday, following which the operation against militants was halted for a night as soldiers cordoned off the forest area.“Four terrorists have been killed while three soldiers attained martyrdom,” a defence spokesman said about the operation. The spokesman said four weapons and “other war-like stores” were recovered from the site while the identities of the militants and their group affiliations were being ascertained.The spokesman said a sanitisation operation was underway in the area, indicating the gunfight was over and the militant group had been neutralised.The gunfight had erupted when the Army had intercepted the militants who were infiltrating into the Kashmir valley. The Nowgam sector is located in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district and is situated along the mountainous stretches of the Line of Control (LoC).This was the second major infiltration bid foiled by the Army in the past two months and came just a day after Defence Minister Arun Jaitley visited forward areas where he vowed an adequate response to ceasefire violations.Last month, four militants were killed by the Army close to the LoC in Kupwara district. The two foiled infiltration attempts in north Kashmir have come at a time when militants operating in south Kashmir are mounting intense pressure on the security grid.The security agencies estimate that 250 to 300 militants are operating in the Valley, a bulk of them in south Kashmir’s four districts where the local component of the militancy is dominant. In north Kashmir, foreign militants are believed to outnumber the local militants.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 20

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has responded to an editorial published in this paper on May 19 with a “letter to the Editor”, in which he states that “it is only a small section of the media and rival political parties that doubt our sincerity and commitment to fulfilling our poll promises…. While I am not a miracle maker, I have, in just two months of governance, set the ball rolling in the right direction to bring the beleaguered state back on the path to progress”.The editorial titled “Return to governance: Captain faces an uphill task” can be read here.The following is the text of the letter written by Capt Amarinder Singh:Your editorial, ‘Return to governance  — Captain faces an uphill task’ (May 19), does not only err on the side of a strong and unjustified bias but fails to reconcile the harsh realities of Punjab, which it has itself admitted to, with the tremendous strides made on the ground to address the multifarious problems inherited by my government from the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime.With neutrality on the part of the media becoming a rarity, one does not really expect a fair and unbiased assessment of the government’s performance from the so-called opinion-makers in the media. Having said that, it is sad, indeed, to see even senior journalists engaging in uncalled for criticism and choosing to ignore hard facts in favour of rhetoric.  The Punjab situation, as it prevails today, requires not unwarranted criticism but collective thinking, with the media, a key contributor to shaping the state’s future. Unfortunately, the media, or at least a section of it, has adopted a confrontationist attitude, instead of supporting us in our difficult but concerted endeavour to clean up the widespread mess in the state.Had your opinion-makers taken a less myopic view of the prevailing situation, they would have realised that restoring systems that had been eroded over a period of 10 years could not be an eight-week job. They would also have been more realistic in their expectations of my government, which, even my worst critics would admit, has started in right earnest with the task of cleaning up Punjab’s mess.Fortunately, it is only a small section of the media and rival political parties who doubt our sincerity and commitment to fulfilling our poll promises. Or who actually believe, as your editorial says, that my promises to the people were fuelled by a “burning ambition” to come to power. But for their sake, I would like to point out that, while I am not a miracle maker, I have, in just two months of governance, set the ball rolling in the right direction to bring the beleaguered state back on the path to progress.Let me take the liberty here of citing just a few examples of what we have achieved on the ground in restoring the confidence of the people and putting the state’s development agenda on the right track. Elimination of the drugs promise, as you are aware, was my key promise to the state and its people. And you just have to check out the numbers, not merely of the arrests and the seizures but also of the youth knocking the doors of the rehabilitation centres, to realise how far we have come in ridding the state of this scourge.  Now take industry, which the previous government had brought to its knees completely with its unfavourable policies. I am sure your journalists and opinion-makers would be aware of the kind of response we have received from leading captains of industry to our efforts to woo investment into the state, which will pave the way for employment generation to fulfil another of my government’s poll promise. As far as agriculture is concerned, while the unabated farmer suicides continue to be a cause for concern, the initiatives taken by my government on crop diversification and horticulture, etc. will go a long way in alleviating the woes of the farming community. And coupled with the farm debt waiver, for which we are working out the modalities, I see agriculture once again becoming the mainstay of Punjab’s economic growth, as it was till a few years ago. The signs of positivity are already there, as evident from the smooth procurement of the record wheat production this season, backed by the highest-ever payment to farmers in April.From ending the VIP culture to cracking down on the transport and sand mafia, and from taking steps to augment infrastructure and quality of education and health in the state to doing away with the halqa system — the list of initiatives we have taken to implement our poll promises is endless. Unfortunately, in analysing the current situation, your editorial writer failed either to consolidate all the hard facts or to apply common sense in drawing conclusions. He/she even failed to take cognizance of the simple fact that contrary to what has been suggested in the editorial, the Central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been extremely cooperative and supportive of my government’s efforts to bring Punjab’s growth back on rails. Given the support I have received so far from all quarters, including the Centre and industry, I am confident that not only will my government succeed in bringing the state out of its current state of ruination, but also will, in fact, restore it to its pristine glory, as one of the most economically developed states in the country.Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister

Women prepare a meal for border residents at a relief camp in Nowshera sector’s Nonial village on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Nonial Relief Camp (Nowshera), May 18It’s a quite unusual scene at the relief camp set up at Government Middle School, Nonial, where around 250 people from villages located near the Line of Control (LoC), including Sher Makri, Sarya and Bhawani, have taken a refuge.Their stay is a perfect glimpse of how much troubled and dangerous life border villagers live on a daily basis. They have been at the relief camp for a week. Their stay is likely to be prolonged in view of villagers’ reluctance to return to their native places as they don’t want to put their lives in danger.Pakistani firing and shelling has not only shattered their lives completely, but also separated family members and school friends from each other as many parents and children are being forced to stay separately at different camps due to space crunch.At Government Middle School, Nonial, about 250 migrants have been accommodated in 10 class rooms which don’t have proper mattings and beddings. During daytime, these rooms are used for conducting classes for the migrant children while the regular classes for students of the school are being held at a hall of the adjacent gurdwara.There are rooms in the school where about 35-40 persons are forced to sleep at night because some rooms are small in size and can’t accommodate large number of people.According to the affected families, their daily menu includes ‘mixed dal’ during lunch and dinner and ‘aloo nutri’ during breakfast. The community kitchen is being handled by the women staying in the camp. They are provided milk either on alternate days or after a gap of two days which means young children are being given ‘kawah’ (black tea) in place of milk.“Badi mushkil se jaan bachi hai ab waapis nahin jayenge (We saved our lives under difficult circumstances. We will not return to our homes now),” Sunita Devi, a mother of five, said while narrating the intense shelling from the Pakistan side on May 13 on her Sher Makri village.She said they had lost everything to the shelling and it was for third time that their house was damaged but they had not been paid any compensation. “Our cattle have perished. Our house is badly damaged and we have no money to meet the demands of our children. Ministers, MLAs and politicians make loud statements from AC rooms but it is the poor who are dying on the border,” she said.Satish Kumar, 37, of Sher Makri village bears lot of grudges against the ruling BJP at the Centre and in the state. He said, “Modi sahib kehte hai ki kada jawab denge par unko kya pata yahan to gareeb hi marte hai (Modi says we will give a befitting reply to Pakistani firing but he does not know that only poor are dying on the border).” He said, “Let them stay for one night with us on the day of shelling. They will come to know about the ground reality.”He said they had faced a similar situation last year when the villagers left their homes and took refuge in relief camps. “On August 8 last, we left our homes and were forced to stay in camps for a week. Thereafter, we stayed in camps for 25 days following border shelling on September 13 last year. Neither we were given any financial assistance at that time nor will we get this time. Let’s have a decisive battle to end this drama.”Another worry among the migrants is the well-being of their family members who are still stuck in border villages. “Our people have been requesting for bus service from Nowshera to the Sher Makri area (30-km distance) to shift the left-out people but no bus has been sent to ferry them safely to this place for the last three days,” said Ashok Kumar, a former naib sarpanch of Bhawani village.

11 villages affected

• As many as 11 border villages have been deserted by a majority of population following rise in tension on the Line of Control, a de facto border between India and Pakistan. These villages include Khamba, Sarya, Bhawani, Kalsian, Manpur, Dhanaka, Khori, Ganiah, Pukharni, Anwas Bhandar and Sher Makri, all in the Nowshera sector. A total of 23 villages are located close to the LoC in Nowshera tehsil

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 16: Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat will visit Line of Control (LoC) and review operational preparedness of the troops along LoC and hinterland tomorrow even as the Army chief today declared that Kashmir will have to be brought out of the vicious cycle of terrorism and sought help of the youth for the purpose.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was holding additional charge of the Defence Ministry after the exit of Manohar Parrikar, has advanced his scheduled visit to Srinagar on May 18 and 19 for GST Council meeting, and now would be visiting the summer capital on May 17 along with the Army chief.
He would review defence preparedness of the troops both along frontiers with Pakistan as well as hinterland.
This is Jaitley’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after assuming charge of the Defence Ministry from Parrikar in March. He would meet top Army Commanders to discuss security situation with them.
Situation has been tense on the LoC after the beheading of two Army soldiers by Pakistani troops at Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district and shelling in Nowshera sector of Rajouri for the past about one week in which three civilians have been killed so far.
Jaitley’s visit to LoC and review of defence preparedness comes amidst reports that Indian Army was bracing up to give befitting reply to Pakistan after the mutilation of two Army soldiers.
Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said today that the Kashmir valley will be brought out of the vicious cycle of terrorism to restore peace and normalcy there and, for the purpose, he sought the help of Kashmiri youth saying they should tread the path of Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz, who was recently gunned down by the militants after being kidnapped while attending marriage of his relative.
Gen Rawat gave his message to the Kashmiri youth through an interview telecast by Doordarshan this evening.
Significantly, the Army chief’s message to the Kashmiri youth comes at a time when there was virtually no end to protests by the youth including students, both girls and boys, in some parts of the Valley, leading to exchanges of stone pelting and teargassing between them and para-military personnel.
“Kashmir will be brought out of the circle of terrorism and normalcy restored there. We have to do this. For the purpose, we need support of the Kashmiri youth,” the Army chief said and called upon them (the youth) to help in bringing back peace in the Valley.
Referring to martyrdom of young Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz, who was kidnapped by the militants from a marriage function at Shopian and gunned down on the intervening night of May 9 and 10, Gen Bipin Rawat said the Kashmiri youths have to complete the unfinished task of Ummer by restoring peace and normalcy in Kashmir.
“The path Ummer Fayaz was treading was cut short. He couldn’t complete his task. You have to take forward his unfinished agenda of bringing back peace in the Valley. You have to come forward for the purpose,” the Army General said addressing the youth.
Calling upon the youth of Kashmir to help Army and other security agencies, Gen Bipin Rawat, who has regularly been visiting the Kashmir valley to monitor situation on Line of Control (LoC) as well as militancy in the hinterland, said: “security forces will succeed in restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley only when the youth come forward and help security forces in the mission’.
The Army chief hoped that the Kashmiri youth would support and help Army, security forces and all other agencies for ending the cycle of protests to pave the way for normalcy in the Valley.
The Army chief’s statement assumed significance as it comes at a time when peace has been shattered in the Valley, almost since July 8, 2016 after Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Burhan Wani was gunned down by the militants.
While Army has not direct role in maintenance of law and order situation in the Kashmir valley as it was mainly concentrating on the Line of Control (LoC) to check infiltration attempts, it had been taking counter-militancy operation in the hinterland, which were sometimes, disrupted by the people, mostly the youth, who indulged in stone pelting, leading to disruption of operations and, sometimes, the escape of the militants, who take advantage of the situation.
A day after beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan army along Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the Army chief had visited Kashmir for two days holding high-level review of security scenario along LoC and hinterland.

Pictures released by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Shopian, May 12

The Jammu and Kashmir Police have identified three suspected Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists believed to be involved in the killing of young Kashmiri Army officer Ummer Fayaz.The police on Friday pasted the posters of the three terrorists in Shopian claiming that they were a part of the group, who abducted and killed the Lieutenant on Tuesday night.The police have also announced rewards for any information on the suspects.Fayaz, a Rajputana Rifles officer, was kidnapped from a relative’s home and killed. A resident of south Kashmir’s Shopian district, he had gone to attend his cousin’s wedding.Lieutenant Fayaz, a farmer’s son, was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 2016.The police said the officer was shot by terrorists five times in an orchard. His body was found in the Harman orchard by locals. —ANI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6

Amid reports that Assam is considering approaching the Centre to get the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act lifted from some parts of the state, the Home Affairs Ministry on Friday issued a notification declaring the state “disturbed” under the law for three more months.The notification, which cited violent activities by insurgent groups such as ULFA and NDFB, came after the last extension issued on November 5, 2016, ended yesterday. The MHA said the entire Assam and bordering areas covering 20 km of Meghalaya have been declared “disturbed” under the AFSPA for three months with effect from May 3.The move also comes in the backdrop of India reportedly facing severe criticism from over 100 countries, including the US, for its “poor human rights records” during the 3rd universal periodic review at the UN Human Rights Council.

Srinagar: A day after hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani asked parents not to send their children to Army schools, a senior Army officer on Saturday said those who keep on talking like this should see where their own children are studying. “…those who keep on talking like this should introspect and see where their own children are studying. Education is important and progress in society can be made through education only,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s Kilo Force Maj Gen AK Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Wagoora in north Kashmir on Saturday. On Friday, Geelani had, in a statement, said that the Army Goodwill Schools had been setup for indoctrination of Kashmiri students. The GoC said the situation in Kashmir was almost normal. — TNS

Separatist Geelani says army-run schools indoctrinating Kashmiri kids, BJP refutes charge

As Kashmir continues to simmer, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has accused army-run schools of ‘indoctrinating’ Kashmiri children – a charge which the BJP described as ‘propaganda’.

GEELANI CHILDREN TRUTH : KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE AND MISGUIDE FUTURE GENERATION OF KASHMIR 

Geelani lives in Hyderpora Srinagar, Kashmir with his wife Jawahira Begum.^[28]

Both his elder son Nayeem & his daughter in law were doctors in Rawalpindi, Pakistan but returned to India in 2010

.^[29] His second son, Zahoor, lives in New Delhi. Izhaar, his grandson, is a crew member of a private airliner in India, while his daughter Farhat is a teacher in Jeddah.

^[30] His other grandchildren are studying in leading schools of India. His cousin Ghulam Nabi Fall is presently in London. ^[31]

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